London Open House 2010: Saturday
I'm finally getting around to blogging about this year's London Open House which took place a couple of weekends ago.
The first place I visited was Centre Point, the iconic office block above Tottenham Court Road station that was built in the 1960s and scandalously left empty for many years because the property developer refused to rent it to anyone who wouldn't take the whole building.
Centre Point has always been one of those buildings I was curious to see inside, and I never took advantage of the times friends have worked there, so it was good to finally get a chance to nose around inside and to admire the view from the top floor.
To be honest, the interior wasn't all that exciting (it is a corporate office building, after all), but I did like the pattern on the floor.
And the view from the 33rd floor is pretty spectacular.
Being so high up provides ample opportunity to spot things you'd never usually see, like grass roofs or construction sites usually hidden behind hoardings. I spotted a ghost sign on Oxford Street that is usually obscured by a combination of building angles and wood hoardings. (It's for W Heslop, about whom I have yet to find any information.)
The bar looks nice too, but to drink there you have to be a member - applying for membership doesn't come cheap and apparently you have to be vetted by other members before you're accepted. They can keep their boys' club, but I'll still be envious of the views.
The second venue I visited was the Royal Astronomical Society, where we were given an extensive of the building. A very extensive tour: it took two hours, because our guide stopped beside every single portrait and artefact, and proceeded to give us a long-winded explanation as to how it had ended up at the RAS.
To be honest, I was too knackered to pay much attention, especially as being stuck in a tiny office room with 25 other people isn't my idea of fun, so I missed much of what he was saying, so I spent a large chunk of it sat on the stairs admiring the engraved window.
We did get to see a piece of Isaac Newton's tree, though, and some pretty amazing pre-Galilean books, and a nice lunar globe.
Two hours is a long time for a tour of a small building, though, even if the tour is peppered with interesting anecdotal tidbits, so I'm not sure that I'd recommend the Royal Astronomical Society at next year's Open House. I'd definitely recommend Centre Point, though.
See more photos from Centre Point and the RAS here.